Hard Eight : A Stephanie Plum Novel

Rating:
Summary: More emotion, still quite shocking at times
Review: 8th in the series. Trenton, New Jersey's Stephanie Plum, bond enforcement officer, a.k.a. bounty hunter, has her hands full with a charity case. Evelyn Soder and her daughter Annie are on the run. Her ex-husband is threatening to collect on a child custody bond that will force repossession on Evelyn's grandmother's house. As always, nobody's telling the whole truth. There's always more to Stephanie's cases than meets the eye. Eddie Abruzzi, Evelyn's landlord, has threatened Stephanie to stay away from Evelyn and her house. What's it to him?

On the side, Stephanie's also looking to bring in Laura Minello-auto theft, and Andy Bender-domestic violence. As always, Lula, ex-lady-of-the-evening, rides shotgun with Steph, along with Albert Kloughn, Evelyn's divorce lawyer. Kloughn is like a pain-in-the-butt little sibling, always latching onto you. But he may have the hots for Steph's sister.

Trenton cop, Joe Morelli, is still trying to decide if he wants to continue as Stephanie's love-interest. While he's deciding, he's always there for her, to help out or just grin. And then there's Ranger, the best bounty hunter ever. Ranger's the Wizard "because he's magic. He mysteriously passes through locked doors. He seems to read minds. He's able to refuse dessert. And he can give me a hot flash with the touch of a fingertip."

A new character is also introduced. Jeanne Ellen Burrows, the female equivalent of Ranger, sporting a black, leather Donna Karan catwoman outfit. I'd like to see her again in future books. What else? Snakes, tarantulas and a 6-foot killer bunny. Yes. A 6-foot killer bunny.

Like other reviewers, I agree that Hard Eight was a bit more light-hearted than the first seven books, but only through the first two-thirds. I couldn't put it down for the last 100 or so pages, constantly laughing out loud and dropping my lower jaw. There's much more emotion and reflection on Stephanie's part. The reader really gets into her head with sympathy and understanding. Don't misunderstand. It's funny. I was also shocked by so many actions by so many characters, like Steph's Mom, her sister Valerie, Ranger and Grandma Mazur, as always. Steph's Dad gave us a few sentences longer than 2 words. Shocking. Bring on number 9!

Rating:
Summary: Bunny Girl
Review: Janet Evanovich has created a very loveable, bumbling, character in Stephanie Plum. Hard Eight, is the eighth book in her number entitled series about this amateur bounty hunter and her exploits. Stephanie works for her slimy cousin Vinnie as a bond enforcement officer. The idea being she is supposed to earn a living in capturing your run of the mill criminals who haven't fronted up for their court dates. Only Stephanie always has trouble with that part and as a result, usually gets more than a scrape on the knee and has to call for back up. Enter the two male interests that are more than professional, Joe Morelli the Cop and Ranger the Cuban heart throb and renegade bounty hunter.

In Hard Eight, Stephanie actually shows some backbone and a little bit of improvement in her law enforcement job skills and it's about time too. It's good to see the action is plentiful, the laughs and one liners are original. Janet Evanovich has finally let Stephanie grow up with her skills and have some luck in life. Considering it has taken eight books for her to improve, from a screaming pair of legs with 'Jersey hair' who lives off junk food.

This time round, Stephanie's paycheck depends on whether she can catch Eddie Abruzzi. Without getting killed by the ex mobster boss and all around psychopath. Besides trying to make dinner time at her parents house, dodge death callings from Abruzzi, cars exploding, Stephanie has to deal with a few other matters at hand. Her confusion over Ranger her sometimes partner in crime and bounty hunter back up and Joe Morelli's role in her life, and hers in his. Plus there is the added bonus of the disappearance of a child involved in a custody case of a family friend.

All the good parts that Evanovich had in her first Plum novel are still here. Rex the hamster and survivor extraordinaire, the grandma from hell - Grandma Murzer, Steph's car issues, the ex-prostitute and Cagney and Lacey wannabe - Lula.

Janet Evanovoich has gone all out with Hard Eight, making it a full on novel of action and laughs which is good to see. I felt she got a little mundane in a few of the other Stephanie Plum novels. However, she retains me as an avid fan with this one.

I can't wait to see what Ms Evanovich and Ms Plum have install for us in the next two books in this series!

Rating:
Summary: Stephanie Plum Character Expands Her Horizons
Review: The book is just a bit different from previous Stephanie Plum novels. Stephanie has just moved a bit into the darker side (but so has Spielberg in Minority Report).

Stephanie Plum fans will enjoy the book, still has the humor and the fun characters you've come to know and love.

New readers looking for mystery will enjoy the story and should appreciate the humor which is far different than any other mystery writer.

If you are looking for humor and romance with a touch of mystery in the background....read one of the other seven Stephanie Plum books first.